The invention relates to a webbing catcher for a vehicle seat belt. Moreover the invention relates to a seat belt system comprising a seat belt and a webbing catcher of this type.
Vehicle seat belts are used to restrain a vehicle occupant in the case of sudden impact of the vehicle. Previous three-point seat belt systems include a belt fitting on which the seat belt is held in a way fixed to the vehicle, a belt retractor onto which the seat belt can be wound as well as a belt buckle to which the belt can be fixed by a plug-in tongue movably supported on the belt. The seat belt is fastened by guiding the seat belt around the vehicle occupant and fixing it by means of the plug-in tongue in the belt buckle.
The belt buckles frequently have the drawback, however, that they are not easy to reach and that it is difficult to insert the plug-in tongue into the belt buckle for example when the occupant wears gloves in winter, which in practice results in a decrease of the belt wearing rate. Therefore from the state of the art e.g. belt feeders are known that move the belt buckle into a comfortable position which is better reachable for the driver. After fastening the seat belt the belt buckle is moved back into an operating position in which the belt buckle does not restrict the freedom of movement of the vehicle occupant.
The motion sequence when fastening the seat belt can be substantially divided into three sections of movement. In the first section of movement the belt webbing is searched for and seized in the area of the plug-in tongue and the plug-in tongue is searched for and seized. Subsequently the belt webbing and the plug-in tongue are pulled around in front of the occupant's body. In the third section of movement the plug-in tongue is inserted into the belt buckle. In contrast to the second section of movement, i.e. guiding the webbing around, the first and third sections of movement take place in a limited space due to the defined positions of the belt components. These sections of movement therefore are highly vehicle-specific.